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‘Black magic?’
‘Witchcraft. He’s made a bloody potion.’
Eveline snorted down the phone.
‘It’s true!’ Estelle huffed. ‘His dad puts pheromones in the perfumes he sells, and James has been bathing in it.’
‘And this makes him behave nicely?’
‘Er, no, but it’s part of his plan to—’ Estelle broke off, fully aware she was sounding insane.
‘Okay, so love potion aside. What has James done to make you think differently about him?’
Estelle didn’t know how to reply. Whether it was hand-painting dog bowls for Chester and Joy, making her the perfect cup of coffee every morning, or spending his afternoon helping her train on Duke, the list of ways James showed his kindness was getting longer, and her reasons for disliking him were getting shorter.
‘He carried me down from the top field after I sprained my ankle earlier.’
‘Oh, my goodness! Are you okay?’
‘Yeah, yeah, it’s going to be fine. Annoying more than anything. I’ve been icing it and James strapped it up.’
‘He strapped it up? At your house? I’m terribly confused, Estelle. What were you doing with James in the top field?’
‘Nothing! Oh, my god, Eveline! I wasn’t shagging him!’
In the silence that followed, Estelle closed her eyes and prayed for the ground to swallow her up.
‘I, er, wasn’t imagining that you were,’ Eveline eventually replied. ‘It’s still winter and rather cold and muddy for that sort of thing.’
Estelle took a deep breath. ‘James wanted to see my archery, so I was showing him. I tripped over a clod of earth when we were up there and fell over.’
‘Oh.’
‘And he wasn’t a dick about it.’
‘I wouldn’t have expected him to be one.’
‘But…’ Estelle trailed off. She’d run out of ways to embarrass herself.
‘Estelle, what would happen if you were friends with James?’
‘I don’t want to be friends with him,’ she muttered petulantly.
‘Lovers then.’
‘What?’ Estelle screeched. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Well, there is a strong attraction between you.’
‘No, there isn’t!’
‘My lovely friend,’ Eveline replied with an irritatingly calm and patient tone. ‘It’s perfectly clear James is drawn to you as a person and as a woman. There’s nothing wrong with finding him attractive. In whatever way that might manifest.’
‘But all the things he did to Henry! He stole his bloody client!’
‘Everyone makes mistakes, and everyone has the capacity to change. I understand your loyalty to Henry, but don’t you think you should try and judge James on how he is now, not how he was in the past?’
Estelle was silent, a wave of confused exhaustion rolling through her. She didn’t want to like James. It wasn’t as if any relationship between them could even go anywhere. He’d made it clear he wanted to get back to London as soon as he could, and she couldn’t betray her twin by copping off with his worst enemy.
